1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management technique that manages working status in a factory and in a warehouse by utilizing a large-scaled display.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a factory or a warehouse, a large number of workers are generally scattered in a wide area for work. Accurate mutual transmission of information is essential to enhance the working efficiency under such conditions, the information including a work plan, actual working conditions, working instructions. It is desirable that the transmitted information has sufficient consistency, that the information is updated with a variation in working status without delay, and that a large number of workers share the information. One of the methods that satisfy these conditions is real-time display of the information using a large-scaled display connected to a computer.
The position of the large-scaled display is conventionally determined to allow each worker to check the display without any specific movement, that is, only by taking into account the visual recognizability of the display. In some cases, it is rather difficult for the worker to check the display during an operation, so that the display of information does not sufficiently contribute to the improvement in working efficiency. No sufficient discussion has been made on the position of the display effective for operations that require movements.
The information conventionally displayed on the large-scaled display in the factory mainly includes the target values of management and the actual values. In the factory, for the enhanced productivity, accurate transmission of information is required between different sections that are involved in production. For example, parts should be supplied from a warehouse of the parts to an assembly line with a progress of the assembling operation. The conventional display does not allow the advantages of the large-scaled display to sufficiently contribute to transmission of information between the different sections.
In the factory, it is often required for different sections that are isolated from each other across the wall to intimately transmit the information. The transmission of information between the different sections, however, conventionally relies on rather personal communication of individual workers. It is accordingly difficult for all the workers in each section to obtain the consistent information without delay. Such deficiency of the information transmission may interfere with smooth operations in the respective sections.
The factory generally has a management section that manages production. The management section conventionally does not use a large-scaled display for production management but causes information, for example, regarding the actual conditions of production lines to be displayed in a computer provided for each manager. This method enables each manager to actually see only part of the information. Various pieces of information may thus not be sufficiently used for the production management. Since each manager requires a diversity of information, it is unpractical and inefficient to display all such information on the large-scaled display. The prior art management system accordingly requires some improvement in the arrangement of making the respective managers in the management section share the information.
The object of the present invention is thus to enable information to be shared in a factory and a warehouse by utilizing a large-scaled display, so as to enhance the workability.